ISO and NICB to Cooperate in Building an All-Claims Database to Fight Insurance Fraud

NEW YORK, Aug. 11, 1997 — Insurance Services Office, Inc. (ISO) and the National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB®) have announced plans to cooperate in building a consolidated all-claims database for the property/casualty insurance industry.

The cooperative arrangement will improve the industry's ability to fight fraud and reduce operating expenses. Insurance fraud costs property/casualty insurers and their policyholders more than $20 billion a year.

The consolidated database will be used by the NICB, insurers and law-enforcement agencies to help identify questionable claims and to speed up payment of valid claims.

ISO and the NICB intend to integrate separate databases currently maintained by the NICB and the American Insurance Services Group, Inc. (AISG) into a single all-claims data base. ISO reached an understanding in May to purchase the assets and operations of AISG, an affiliate of the American Insurance Association, in a transaction the parties expect to complete by early fall.

"Everybody gains through this cooperative effort except people who commit insurance fraud," said Fred R. Marcon, ISO's chairman, president and chief executive officer. " Bringing ISO's demonstrated analytical and technology strengths to bear on a single all-claims database will permit analysis of claims trends and patterns in new ways. The real reward will be a reduction in insurance fraud, ultimately translating into lower premiums for policyholders."

"Combining ISO's data-management expertise with an all-claims database and the NICB's impressive investigative knowledge will increase the odds of identifying insurance fraud," said John G. DiLiberto, president and chief executive officer of the NICB. "Creating an integrated all-claims database will also eliminate redundant costs — not only the costs of maintaining separate databases, but even more important, the costs many insurers now spend to capture and report data twice."

The NICB's Board of Governors voted late last week to endorse the migration of the NICB's claims and related databases and software to ISO. The NICB will not pay for access to the all-claims database to continue its fight against insurance fraud and vehicle theft. Law-enforcement agencies will continue to have access to that database at no cost under appropriate circumstances.

The NICB will continue to investigate referred claims. In addition, the NICB will maintain its training of insurance and law-enforcement personnel, leading the fight for enactment of insurance-fraud legislation and conducting public-awareness campaigns.

A claims council, drawn from current governors of the NICB and directors of AISG, will be established to guide the development and enhancement of the integrated all-claims database and related services. In addition, users' groups will be created to address the needs of various database customers such as insurers' special investigative units, insurers' claims operations personnel and law-enforcement agencies.

The NICB, headquartered in Palos Hills, Ill., is a not-for-profit organization combating insurance fraud and vehicle theft through information services, investigative services, training, government affairs and public awareness. The NICB is supported by approximately 1,000 insurance companies and several self-insured companies.